Minerva Lodge 4002 History
Minerva lodge was founded in 1919 by a number of members of Neptune Lodge No 1264. The majority of the members were employed in Marine Insurance, the Timber importing trade and other shipping activities and adopted Minerva as the new lodge name for her connection with commerce. The Lodge first met at the Bears Paw, a restaurant and, meeting place in the city and regular lodge meetings were held there until 1940 when this venue and a large part of the city centre was destroyed in an air raid. The early records of the Lodge were lost. The damage forced the Lodge to move the Carlton club in Eberle Street off Dale Street. One of the keen early members was a senior Police officer and by his influence a good proportion of the lodge members in the 1940's and 1950's were members of Liverpool City Police although not all of them became Worshipful Master.
Although the Carlton club became the Carlton Masonic Hall Company this area of Liverpool was scheduled to be completely demolished and redeveloped and although the redevelopment never took place the whole area became blighted, the site deteriorated and there were financial problems which led to the company into liquidation. This forced a further move into the Masonic Hall in Hope Street in the 1970's where the Lodge still meets.
When Woolton Hall became a Masonic venue there was a suggestion that Minerva Lodge move there but it did not get the necessary majority vote as at the time most of the members lived north of the city and commuted via the Southport Railway line.
Apart from one of the founders, five Past Masters achieved Grand Rank. Worshipful Brother James Longridge, the first initiate following the consecration of the Lodge in 1919 later also joined a Lodge in Southport and became the Chairman of the Southport Group of Lodges with the rank of Past Junior Grand Deacon.
Worshipful Brother Edward Nichols, Past Junior Grand Deacon, an Assistant Chief Constable of Liverpool, a keen bowler, became Secretary then Chairman of the West Lancashire Masonic Charity Bowling Tournament raising a considerable amount of money for his charity over a number of years.
Worshipful Brother Rev. Victor G Davies was appointed Third Provincial Principal in the Provincial Grand Chapter of West Lancashire in 1962 and held the Craft Grand Rank of Past Assistant Grand Chaplain.
When Worshipful Brother James Smail, a Chief Superintendent of Police retired he was appointed an Assistant to the Provincial Grand Secretary with the responsibility for the day to day running of the Provincial Office and held the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies.
Worshipful Brother R Wallace Davies after being the Secretary of one of the Liverpool Groups of Lodges was in 1977 appointed, the Provincial Grand Secretary of West Lancashire, charged with the administration of the largest Province holding the office for 10 years until reaching retirement age. He was then invested with the Rank of Assistant Provincial Grand Master fully retiring 8 years later with the very high rank of Past Senior Grand Deacon after having two promotions in Grand Rank.
From its founding in 1919 the Lodge Membership increased gradually to reach a peak of 80 in the late 1940's after which there was a steady decline to the present members of 22.
The Province of West Lancashire
Freemasonry has deep roots in Lancashire. The Earliest mention of a ceremony is in the diary of Elias Ashmole who recalls his initiation in the order of Warrington on the 16th October 1646, when after two years of wrangling and the suspension of the then Provincial Grand Master, it was divided into East and West. The western division then embraced all the Lodges of the West side of the Great North Road (A6) extending from Stockport in Cheshire, through Manchester, Bolton, Preston and Lancaster but excluding Bolton. This Boundary remains to this day despite the changes in County boundaries resulting in some of the present Lodges being in Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester and Cumbria. The change of the name from Lancashire Western Division to West Lancashire, took place in 1960
In 1826 when the Western Division was created there were 25 Lodges with 467 members. 100 years later there were 261 Lodges with 24,872 members. Today 179 years on there are 482 Lodges with 14,000 members. It will be seen that although the number of Lodges has increased steadily, the average number of members in each Lodge has been reducing in line with modern thought that with smaller Lodges comes scope for more Brethren activity to participate in Lodge affairs.
Because of the size and considerable area of the Province an organisation was set up in 1910 to assist the Provincial Grand Master's Chairmanship of a festival for the R.M.I.G. This involved arranging the Lodges in the Province into a series of Groups, 22 at the time. The Group system proved so successful it was decided that for the better organisation of the Province, it would be continued and has proved of immense value to the administration of the Province ever since. The Group officials give generously of their time and effort for the furtherance of Freemasonry in this, the largest Province. There are now 24 Groups all with their Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary, and each taking its turn to host and provide the stewards so essential for a successful Provincial Grand Lodge Meeting.
There were originally 8 numbered Liverpool Groups but in 1998 to allow the Lodges meeting at Garston Masonic Hall and Woolton Hall to be formed into their own group, the local group system was reorganised. The remaining Liverpool Lodges were formed into four central Groups rather than numbers they were named after four most famous Liverpool Docks, namely - Gladstone, Sandon, Trafalgar & Wellington.
Liverpool Lodges
The vast majority of the Liverpool Lodges meet at the Masonic Hall in Hope street (the administrative centre of Freemasonry in the Province of West Lancashire). About half of those in the Gladstone Group and a small number in the Sandon and Wellington Groups meet at such diverse venues as The Britannia Adelphi Hotel, the Liverpool Racquet club, Staff House at the University of Liverpool and the Greenbank Synagogue in Sefton Park.
Between them these Liverpool Groups comprise a cosmopolitan array of different Lodges with much fascinating heritage, reflecting the history and development of the City. Some lodges are very old; there are several over two hundred years of age and one approaching two hundred and fifty, but many were founded since the second world war, the most recent in 1979. Most lodges meet in the evening during the week but there is one lodge that meets at lunchtime and a few meet on Saturdays.
Some lodges hold many social events, including Ladies nights, Old English nights, Barbecues and various fund raising activities, both for Masonic and non Masonic charities. Charity is one of the great driving forces in Freemasonry and every member is encouraged to contribute regularly to this worthy cause. The sums raised enable the Freemasons charity to donate considerable amounts to nearly all the major National Charities and it is one of the major sources of charitable giving in the country. In addition the Brethren also support local non-Masonic Charities as well as the Masonic Charities in the Province of West Lancashire.
